gifted Adults

Often, once a child is found to be gifted it inevitably raises questions about where that giftedness has come from! It’s not unusual for parents to say ‘oh, they didn’t get it me!’, or ‘I’m not gifted at all. I’m just average.’ However, research shows that just in the same way the IQ scores of siblings are often similar, parents’ scores are also frequently within ten points of their children. For clarification on this read Linda Silverman’s article, ‘What We Have Learned About Gifted Children‘.

So, what does a gifted adult look like? Well, just like a gifted child, we in no way all look the same. However, there are some traits that are commonly found in gifted adults. Below you’ll find some characteristics of gifted adults as compiled by Annemarie Roeper, Ed.D. and Betty Maxwell, Ph.D.

Sensitivity

Remembering insults forever

Doing three things at once

Doing the outwardly foolish thing, taking up lost causes

Psychic

Interest in life and death

Driven to comprehend, complexity of understanding

Wanting to know the reasons and origins of things

Asks, “What is my purpose?”

Naive

Recognition of falsity, no “trophy friends”

Complexifying solutions

Finding non-conventional solutions, originality

Not motivated by extrinsic awards, discomfort with praise

Passionate

Undeterred by conventional expectations

Self taught, non-sequential learning

Need for precision

Recognition of unfairness, strong sense of justice

Making intuitive leaps, making logical projections

Noticing what no one else does

Manipulation and bargaining

Make and follow their own plans, less teachable

Devise practical experiments to see “What if?”

Saying, “Actually”

Large vocabulary, love of big words

Delayed in toilet training, difficulty in separating from mom

Early sense of responsibility

Not wanting to grow up and face the world

Less physical risk-taking

Zipping through Piagetian stages

Friends of both genders, later sexual interests

Abstract thinkers before having the emotional ability to handle it

Symbolic thinkers

Can animate their fears, powerful emotional imagination

If you can see yourself in this list of characteristics then it is probably worth exploring this area further. Discovering your giftedness can be an enlightening, and sometimes emotional experience, for gifted adults. Hop on over to the page which offers resources on embracing being a gifted adult and do some more reading. The more you read the more empowered you will feel in your understanding of your self and your needs as a gifted adult.

A family with gifted adults and gifted children is often an intense one, full of passion and curiosity. This useful video explores gifted adults and family dynamics.

Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.

~ Allen Ginsberg

Gifted and Talented Programs: 21st Dec 2015
Applications for the 2016 round of testing for WA's Gifted and Talented Programs are now open. For more information please see the Department of Education's website.
You can also find further information here: Gifted Education in Western Australia
Very best wishes to everyone sitting the test :)....

Making Friends: 16th Dec 2015 "Making friends can be hard for any child, but for socially awkward gifted children or twice-exceptional kiddos, the challenge is only multiplied. While their brains are working on overdrive, and they can have an intelligent conversation with an adult expert in the field in which they are interested, put them in...

Did you know...: 9th Nov 2015 Did you know that parents are often the most accurate identifiers of their child's giftedness? Macquarie University's Special Education Centre advise schools to:
"Take parents seriously if they ask for more challenge or for investigation of their child’s abilities. Some parents are hesitant to make the first move, so invite all...

"Your Mental Health is More Important than your Grades": 27th Oct 2015 As the frenzy of exam season arrives here in Australia, and recent research suggests that those most at risk of falling prey to exam anxiety are gifted girls, it's a good time to take stock and remember that grades are not the bee-all and end-all.
"It's no joke. A recent report from the...

Neglecting Our Brightest Students: 19th Oct 2015 "The smartest kid in class, by contrast, is not an expensive problem. A boy or girl who finishes an assignment early can be handed a book and told to read quietly while the teacher works on getting other children caught up. What would clearly be neglect if it happened to...

Giftedness: The Word That Dare Not Speak Its Name?: 27th Sep 2015
Many people, including educators and academics, state that we should not use the term 'gifted'. To be honest, there are better words that I believe suit gifted children: asynchronous, cognitively advanced, and so the list goes on! However, whilst ‘gifted’ is a loaded term, and one that is unfortunately all...